MP claims Weardale rail project was scrapped by Tories

Bishop Auckland MP Sam Rushworth claimed the Conservatives scrapped the proposed Darlington-Weardale railway scheme but didn’t tell local authorities or politicians. 

The proposal was promoted by The Auckland Project and focused on developing the Darlington-Dales corridor, improving the connectivity of towns and villages along the Weardale line, and reviewed the possibility of providing a link to Crook.

Durham County Council said it would support economic development along the corridor, helping to attract visitors and boost spending by connecting tourism sites including Hamsterley Forest, Bishop Auckland town centre, the Durham Dales, and the Weardale Railway.

The project was shortlisted as part of the Restoring Your Railway Fund, announced by the Tories in 2020. However, the whole programme was cast in doubt last week when Labour pledged to review it. 

Now, the newly-elected Labour MP said the Weardale project had been removed from the programme before Labour’s announcement on Monday, July 29. 

“The decision was taken months ago not to go ahead with it but for political reasons, they didn’t communicate that with the local community and left us to pick up the pieces,” said Mr Rushworth. 

“During the General Election campaign, I found it very odd that there were coordinated attacks on Labour candidates where they said we were going to cancel various infrastructure projects. We all said we supported them but what we now know is that there was no money available for any of these projects. 

“The previous government knew we would have to cancel them because they had announced and promoted things they were unable to deliver themselves.”

Sam Rushworth, Labour MP for Bishop Auckland (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

The government said the Darlington-Weardale project had developed to the Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) stage, which involved setting out the objectives of the scheme and exploring the options for intervention. 

Mr Rushworth has requested more details on why the proposed project was reportedly cancelled and the reason for the decision. 

Announcing a review of the Restoring Your Railway Fund, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said: “Communities up and down the country have been given hope for new transport infrastructure, with no plans or funds to deliver them.”

Recommended reading: 

• Plans to restore disused railway lines and stations in County Durham in doubt
• Restoring your railway: which County Durham projects are now under threat?

• Tory wipeout at General Election revealed as party won just one County Durham ward

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The Labour MP warned of £2.9 billion unfunded transport commitments that had been left by the Tories. 

Ms Haigh added: “In recent weeks, the gap between promised schemes and the money available to deliver them has been made clear to me. There has been a lack of openness with the public about the status of schemes – some of which were cancelled or paused by the previous government, without proper communication to the public.

“We will bring in external expertise and move quickly to make recommendations about current and future schemes.”